My lo has Reflux and is eating little and often

[B-Mo]

Hi,

I've always been a big fan of EASY and used it with my first daughter. It worked a treat. My newborn little girl (4 weeks old), took to EASY in the first week. But just in the last week she has really struggled with taking her milk. Fussing when I feed her. Crying during and after her feed etc... Anyway she has now been diagnosed with Reflux and we have antacid to help with the pain. But I'm finding since the Reflux kicked in she has been reducing how much milk she takes (she used to take 4-5 ozs and now takes 2-3 ozs) and is asking to be fed every 2-2.5 hrs. Does anyone else's child have reflux? Is this normal? Should I be going with her need of a 2hrly feed or should I be trying to stretch her out to 3hrs? When I do try and stretch her out she cries uncontrollably which means she cries for a lot of the day - before I feed her when she's hungry, when I feed her because it hurts and after I've fed her. I just feel so sorry for her.

Any advice would be amazing.

Thanks,

Bryony

[Lolly]

I have 2 refluxers, both bottle fed so definitly been there, done that . {{HUGS}} for you though, it's no fun.

Many refluxers like to be fed little and more often, some (like mine) will go for longer periods on small amounts of milk. I think that until you get the reflux under control you will need to go with her cues and do what it takes for her to be comfotable.

What meds is she on, what dose and what weight. Which formula is she on - are you thickening it at all for her?

Laura

[B-Mo]

Hi Laura,

Thank you so much for replying. My first daughter never had reflux so this is all new to me.

The doctor has given us infant Gaviscon. She's 9.5lbs now and so can only take one sachet of Gaviscon. I'm not convinced it's working that well as she still has a scream during and after her milk. Though today I felt like I had my daughter back as we had smiles and some gurgles as she didn't seem to be in as much pain. She didn't scream after a lot of her feeds today. Quick question - if she wasn't screaming with her feeds shouldn't she have taken more milk? All very confusing.

We started to use Aptamil Comfort just before she was prescribed the Gaviscon but it says you can't use Gaviscon with milk that has thickening agent. So they told me I should use the normal Aptamil. Though would love to use the Comfort as it's supposed to help with the constipation that Gaviscon can give.

Do you think I should speak to the doctors about something other than Gaviscon? I'm also worried about her only taking 2 ozs in a feed. She's nearly 10lbs now, surely she should be taking more!!

Thank you again for any help and advice.

Bryony

[dizzy]

Does your lo with reflux be sick? Mine isn't sick at all but did suddenly drop amount of milk drinking and now if you don't get it in on the first bit of he feed then highly unlightly he will drink much more. He has feeds every 3 hrs a but in the bad bit in the evening sometimes only drinks 60 ml and then just doesn't want any more until dream feed which is the best feed of the day. I think he has reflux and we have been given gavisgoine but do try not to use it too much because he is very windy and gavisgoine stops him from pooing and makes him even more unhappy. I thought thickening milk was for lo's that are sick?

[Lolly]

B-Mo - I would go back and see your Dr. Gaviscon is really only a thickener, it doesn't reduce or neutralise the acid at all and does a good job of constipating them. Both my two started on a comfort formula, had gaviscon which didn't really help, and ended up on Enfamil AR which is a reflux formula and ranitidine. You will get good feeds and bad feeds with reflux, or days when they seem happier but if you look at the overall picture you will know things aren't right.

dizzy - thickening can help silent refluxers because it helps to stop them refluxing up into their throats where the acid will burn. Thickened feeds with the right meds work really well for silent refluxers and the puking everywhere kind. My kids were/ are mostly silent refluxers.

Laura

[dizzy]

Would you get a comfort milk or would a hungry baby one be ok? Comfort hard for me to get will need to order online and get delivered.

[Lolly]

I wouldn't get the hungry baby milk for a young baby, they are designed for babies who are 4 months+ and are taking in large amounts of milk but aren't ready to be weaned. They are harder to digest so could make things worse if your baby is having digestive issues to begin with.

The comfort milks can be good for mild refluxers as they are thicker than a normal formula (you will need a faster teat) and most have a stool softener in them which helps as well.

Laura

[creations]

B-Mo I just wanted to jump in and say that my LO started off on 2 hrly feeds, gradually (very slowly) managed to go to 2.5 and finally up to 3hrs, but we never went up to a 4 hr EASY (not until solids started at 6 months, bottles then went to 4 hrs instead of 3hrs and this happened very naturally for him).  You do need to go back to the doc about getting proper meds, but meanwhile I hope you can feel a little reassured that my LO still learned to sleep independently despite the reflux (silent reflux to begin with) and it is possible to run an EASY on 2 or 2.5 hr E if that's what your LO needs to feel comfortable.
If necessary keep a log of all your EASY times in the day so that you can run the right length A and the right length E.  Times might clash a bit but you can't force a baby to sleep sooner than their full A time just to fit in with more regular Es and you can't stretch out the Es if it causes pain.
With the sleep training, as long as you are responding to your LOs needs for comfort when in pain etc then it is still possible to get a few naps or night sleeps in the cot and put down awake, this is the beginning of independence.  The nights were always the easiest for me to put DS down awake because he was the most relaxed then so took his bottle really well (BT and DF were always the biggest feeds and least painful).
Try not to pat to wind as this can agitate the reflux.  Instead rub upwards on LOs left hand side on the back, or you might find applying just a tiny bit of pressure under the left side ribs (where the tummy is) can bring up the wind (I think Tracy describes both of these methods in SOTBW)  I found if LO was swaddled I could hold him upright (tummy to tummy) and give him a firm hug and this brought the wind right up.  Also avoid pat/shush for the same reason.  Try a still hand, or a gently rubbing hand, or firmish pressure with the hand (whatever you suits you and LO)...you can of course still 'shush' as that doesn't effect reflux
hth some as it can be tricky knowing what to do x

[dizzy]

Is the reflux issue he has a different thing to the wind? Was hoping to try to solve or lessen the wind problem some how to help him?

[B-Mo]

Thanks Laura and Creations. I tried to push my daughter to a 3hrly feed today and I think it all backfired as she was really difficult to settle this evening as she was OT and hungry (yet not able to take much) so we had a lot of crying and we didn't finally settle her until gone 8pm. So I think I'm going to do two things - 1. Have a chat to the doctors about her meds. I've heard from several people as well that Ranitidine is good Laura. 2. Go with her timetable rather than trying to force a timetable on to her. I was hoping that pushing her to 3hrs would increase her hunger and possibly she'd drink more than 2ozs. But I was wrong.

Another quick question, if you don't mind. I can only give the Gaviscon 6 out of 8 feeds. I don't give it for her DF and night feed as this is when she is most relaxed. For these she never cries out or shows signs of reflux. Is this normal? Have I got her diagnosis right? I would have expected with reflux that she would scream every time she was fed without the meds.

[Lolly]

It's very normal for refluxers to feed better at dreamfeeds and nightfeeds because they are more relaxed. For some it gets to a stage when they only take good feeds when they are asleep or drowsy so it's definitly worth trying ranitidine before things get to that stage.

Ranitidine is very weight sensitive and dosed on weight so usually needs increasing quite often. The usual dosage is 2-4mg per kg but some Drs will only prescribe 1-3mg per kg for babies under 6 months. What you may find in that it seems to be helping for a couple of weeks and then things start to get worse again - this usually means the dose needs increasing, both mine started on the lowest dose for weight but needed the max for it to help properly.

Which formula is she on? If it's a normal milk based formula you could also ask about using a reflux formula. I used Enfamil AR with my two, it thickens in the stomach (and is slightly thicker in the bottle) so it helps to stop being refluxed back up. In the UK it can be bought OTC in a pharmacy but will need ordering in and it is available on prescription.

Laura

[creations]

B-Mo if you continue to use the gavi whilst you wait to see a paediatrician for reflux meds you might be able to offer it at all 8 feeds if she is only taking 2oz at a time.  I have known someone be told to put half a sachet into half the quantity of milk (ie half sachet into 2oz or 60ml) when LO is taking so little at each feed.  In this way every bottle gets the thickener but LO does not take in more than 6 sachets per 24 hr period.
My DS is the same with the BT feed and DF being the best feeds.  More relaxed, less painful, but can still reflux in the night so it's best to get the ranitidine sorted asap and, if you feel comfortable with it, try the half sachet dose in each smaller feed so the BT and DF are also treated.

DS's thickener (alongside ranitidine) is cow and gate carobel powder, given on prescription, which is added to regular (stage 1) formula. Hope your LO gets relief from the reflux very soon x

[gabrielsmommy]

Laura,

Did the Enfamil AR make your babies constipated?  Mine son was just prescribed Ranitidine twice a day for reflux and I was considering switching to a different formula also.  Right now my son is on Similac Sensitive.

[Lolly]

My two were fine on the Enfamil AR, but I know other babies have got constipated on it. DS was close to 6 months when he started on it but DD was only 9 weeks, ranitidine can cause constipation as well. It's hard to know what's normal too, not every baby goes everyday and that doesn't mean they are constipated.

With a bottle fed baby, if they are getting constipated you can offer a few oz of cooled boiled water through the day which helps.

Laura

[Charlie_Mom]

Hi everyone,
I have a 14 week old born 6 weeks premature, he has reflux and is on Ranitidine to control the pain. I've been increasing it and he's currently at 3mg (currently 12lbs) a day.  He currently can only take 2 oz per feed of formula, of which I'm thickening with rice cereal. He seems to eat pretty regularly through the day at every 2 1/2 hours or so, I do 2 or 3 cluster feeds in the evening before I put him down at 8pm. My issue is my LO doesn't take dreamfeeds at all. He completely shuts down for feeding when he's sleepy, relaxed and tired. So the result is LO waking between 1 and 3am for a feed, and again between 3 and 6 for a feed. I realize this isn't bad for a 3 month old - but I'd really like to be able to do a dream feed to see if that makes a difference. Does anyone have issues with their reflux LO's refusing to eat when they are sleepy? He doesn't even want to latch onto a bottle nipple, it just sort of sits in his mouth while he sleeps. Kind of cute actually... perhaps I just have a baby that doesn't do DF's?
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!